Aldridge Report Sausage

06/23/04 00:00:00    

By Michael Mealling

Update: From reliable sources there is a suggestion that there has been no legislation written yet that is a result of the Aldridge Commission report since they are still testifying to Congress about it. At the same time this legislation does contain some information that corresponds to what is in the report. Was this written in anticipation of the report? I'll try and find some clarification and let you know.

Thanks to Jim Burk of ProjectConstellation.US I found the newly submitted NASA Authorization bill that was mentioned last week.

My first impressions are that something seems to have been lost in the translation. For example, Section 305, “COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN WITH OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCIALIZATION.” says this:

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   (a) IN GENERAL- The Administrator and the Director of the Office of Space Commercialization of the Department of Commerce shall develop a commercialization plan to support the human missions to the Moon and Mars. The plan shall identify opportunities for the private sector to participate in the future missions, including opportunities for partnership between NASA and the private sector in the development of technologies and services.



  (b) REPORT- Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Director jointly shall submit a copy of the plan to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science.



  (c) Report To Be Combined With Section 306 Report- The Administrator shall combine the plan required under subsection (b) with the report required by section 306 and submit them as a single document.

This section reads to me as though the plan is to let the OSC write the recommendation for 'partnerships' when the Aldridge Report seemed to recommend that the private sector actually run the entire mission.

Section 306 even goes on to ask NASA to evaluate private industry:

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   (a) IN GENERAL- The Administrator and the Director of the Office of Space Commercialization of the Department of Commerce shall develop an assessment of the capability of the private sector, including small businesses, to support the manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The assessment shall include the ability of private industry to support--



        (1) the definition of basic program requirements;



        (2) an assessment of current technologies and shortfalls; and



        (3) the production and manufacturing capabilities necessary to implement the manned missions to the Moon and Mars.



  (b) REPORT- Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Director jointly shall submit a copy of the assessment to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science.

Umm…. sense when do you let the child that has been misbehaving define the new behavior its being asked to adhere to?

Section 311 at least got the private property rights request right:

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SEC. 311. LEGAL ASPECTS OF LUNAR EXPLORATION.

  The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a legal review and interpretation of laws and treaties governing the exploration of space and the possible ownership of resources on the Moon and Mars. The review should determine if any changes or new agreements are needed to reflect the growing role of the private sector in space exploration. The review shall be submitted to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science within 90 days of enactment of this Act.

Now its possible that, being a lay person, I'm not capable of interpreting legislation correctly. There is also this in Section 403, “COMMERCIAL GOODS AND SERVICES”:

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It is the sense of the Congress that NASA should purchase commercially available space goods and services to the fullest extent feasible in support of the human missions to the Moon and Mars and shall not conduct activities with commercial applications that preclude or deter commercial space activities except for reasons of national security or public safety. For purposes of this section –

         (1) a space good or service shall be considered to be commercially available if it is offered by a commercial provider, or if it could be supplied by a commercial provider in response to a Government procurement request; and



        (2) a purchase shall be considered to be feasible if it meets mission requirements in a cost-effective manner while offering the same or a higher level of safety.

But even this allows NASA the out by letting them define the mission and safety requirements. Section 404 describes an Industry Advisory Board that can “review and discuss opportunities for the private sector to invest in and take advantage of activities at NASA” but again, this all seems to be a one way street with no teeth.

The Centennial Challenges authorization is also in there (Sectino 408) but its a little confusing as to time limits.

There just seems to be way to much wiggle room here for business as usual to sneak in. I hope there is some way for the Aldridge Commission members to jointly react to how their recommendations have actually turned out.